Ellee Seymour

A thousand thanks to Welshcakes Limoncello for her precise proof reading of the final draft of my research assignment on how MPs write their blogs and engage in two-way communication. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it and finally posted it off today to my excellent course director Heather Yaxley, who writes a great PR blog, and has an expertise in the motoring industry.

Which reminds me, please be patient when you see learner drivers on the road, my son David has just signed up for lessons and is a real pain in the …..

Every five minutes or so, he insists on telling me that I should be two chevrons behind the car in front, and I should be doing this or that according to the Highway Code. As someone who has passed her Advanced Motorist Test and loves being behind the wheel, I find it quite amusing, but also very irritating, there are limits. He is desperate for me to take him out in my car, I guess I will have to soon, but can parental relationships survive this gruelling test? And doesn’t the insurance cost an arm and leg?

My other son James has had a golf mad summer, it’s his latest passion and at 14, I so admire his confidence. He has joined two local clubs, a “posh” one, in his words, and a “not so posh one” run by a former SAS soldier turned mercenary who quit when he saw a colleague blown next to him in Iraq. They are both excellent. Each day this week I have dropped James off at the “posh” club which he joined as a junior member last week and, if alone, was taken under the wing of other players and invited to join them. I think it is great he had the confidence to go there unaccompanied. I firmly believe that confidence is worth more than any education, it is a skill that carries you through life. He was lucky enough to have been born with it.

James invited me to be his caddy today (I am a non player), only the printing and binding of my project, as well as the heavy traffic to and from Cambridge, meant it took forever, and I was unable to join him. I was so amused by the seriousness of his invitation, the way he questioned whether my white linen three-quarter length trousers were smart enough. He even checked the golf club’s dress code and was very concerned that they might be regarded as “cargo” trousers, and not suitable. How incongruous is that? My son telling me that I am not smart enough to accompany him to his golf club!

So the summer hols have come to an end, I always regret the passing of this passage in time as I love spending these special weeks with my boys. It means normal blogging will be resumed, earlier darker nights - and how long before Christmas cards are out in the shops?

My thoughts are with the anguished family of Madeline McCann, a young child who should have been bouncing off to school today, full of the joys of life.  A desk, coat peg and locker have thoughtfully been set aside in the hope that one day she will join her classmates at Bishop Ellis Catholic Primary School in Thurmaston, Leicestershire .

Madeleine has now been missing for 119 days. How could someone been so cruel as to snatch a sleeping young child from her bed? No parent deserves to live with that torment. If only Gerry McCann could have a positive response to his latest plea, someone has the answer to this:

“We do not know who has taken Madeleine or why. Sometimes people do things for reasons that even they cannot understand. An act of madness, an accident or sudden impulse can lead to consequences that people may never have imagined or intended. Faced with such a situation we believe any human soul will ultimately suffer torment and feelings of guilt and fear.

“If you have done something you regret, if you find yourself in a situation you never intended, it is not too late to do the right thing. Please come forward, return Madeleine, leave her in a place of safety. At the very least, help us by letting us know what has happened to our beautiful little girl.”

In memory of those who are still missing.

Feel free to pay tribute tribute here to John Prescott who has announced he will not be standing at the next general election. He provided us with many hilarious headlines and politics would be dull without a few characters like him. He certainly had the gift of the gaffe.

I wonder if Prezza’s announcement is timed so a replacement can be selected in time for an autumn election. We are now beginning to see Gordon Brown’s true colours following his refusal to hold a referendum over the proposed new EU constitution. This excellent leading article from The Sunday Times is very succinct, and I wonder how this issue will influence Brown’s decision about an early election, it certainly marks the end of his political honeymoon:

So much for Gordon Brown’s promise to devolve power to the citizen. When it comes to European Union stitch-ups, it seems, Mr Brown remains the control freak of old. His assertion that a parliamentary vote on the proposed new EU constitution – and it is a constitution, Mr Brown – is all that is necessary, and that a referendum is unnecessary, is classic elite politics. We won’t ask the people because they’ll tell us what we don’t want to hear. A growing band of Labour MPs disagree.

It is striking that the two decisions that most solidified the former chancellor’s reputation for shrewd judgment showed that he understood the appropriate limits of political control. His handover of monetary policy to the Bank of England involved the government giving up a potentially damaging form of political interference in the economy. He followed that with an effective veto over Britain’s entry into the euro, demonstrating a sensible wariness of a further erosion of Britain’s powers of self-government.

So it is all the more striking that he has begun his premiership by ignoring the lessons of those two decisions and instead claiming that the treaty agreed in Brussels in June is an entirely separate beast from the earlier treaty voted down by the French and the Dutch (although Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, its architect, and a host of EU grandees protest that it is one and the same thing). And we all know why he is attempting to pass off this fiction as fact – because his party had a commitment to a vote on the old treaty and he would lose such a vote.

Ironically, of course, Mr Brown’s already high poll ratings would almost certainly climb even higher if he were to prove himself the champion of democracy and do the right thing: offer us a vote on our own constitution. He would show himself to be consistent, tough, forward thinking and, above all, in tune with his own people. What more could a prime minister on the verge of a general election want? So come on, Mr Brown: give us the referendum your party promised.

Update 31 August: It makes perfect sense if what Iain has heard is right.

If my husband is late home for dinner this evening, should I be worried by the fact that he is spending the day with the stunning Scarlett Johansson?

They are filming together in the hallowed, medieval grounds of Ely, butI doubt Stephen’s name will appear in lights, even though it is his second role as a courtier in a historical blockbuster.

I asked if I could be an extra too for the latest film, The Other Bolyen Girl, a story about the ill-fated Anne Bolyen and her sister Mary, but was told they only had one size 8 costume left - and I could not squeeze into that by any stretch of the imagination.

Last year I auditioned for the The Golden Age, an epic about Elizabeth 1, due to be released very soon, but was not pale and interesting, or waif like enough.

This time, my husband has to wear a grey wig and play the part of an old man. Let’s hope Stephen does not lose his head to Scarlett’s overt and bosomy charms!

*My friend’s son Todd spent his gap year as a film extra and was lucky enough to have a part in Atonement which comes out next month.

I shall be sitting with my family in a box at Manchester United tomorrow (hopefully the sun will be shining), thanks to my husband who won the VIP tickets as a prize at a corporate dinner. We have a meal and drinks included, as well as on-site car parking, pretty much five star treatment.

The reds will be playing the blues from Tottenham Hotspur and as I have one son who supports ManU, and my other son and husband supports Spurs, it is bound to be a very fraught match.

I admit I have a weakness for French footballers, my favourite was David Ginola, who was so graceful, yet exhilarating in action, (I even have a signed photo of him). Anyway, I’m sure I shall have a great time, whoever is on the pitch.

So do look out for me with the WAGS,  and if I bump into Sir Alex, I hope he will be more polite than the last time we rubbed shoulders….

And thanks to textiles company Bianca for donating such a generous prize and giving us what I know will be a thrilling day, especially for my boys.

Does anyone want to guess the score?

My son David has been booked in at University College Hospital, London for a biopsy on 10 September. There are no facilities for me to sleep over, neither do they provide hostel accommodation, they recommended I find a local b & b or hotel.

They suggested I look one up on Google, but I thought I would ask here too. I also need car parking facilities, I have to drive David home as his face will be swollen after the op and he was sick on the journey home last time he had this done. The hospital is in Euston Road and I would be very grateful for any recommendations.

It is hoped the biopsy will give David’s consultant an idea about different drugs or treatment for his chronic osteomyelitis. His consultant says the hospital has world-class microbiologists, we have to place our faith in them.

The good news for David is that he has his first driving lesson next week. He can’t wait.

The whole nation can only feel shock and revulsion at the shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones who had spent the evening playing football and, according to an eye witness, was gunned down by  a youth with his face covered by a hood, who rode past on a BMX bicycle.

How could we have sunk to such an all-time low and produced young people who behave with such evilness and depravity, to have no regard for human life, to target an innocent boy in such a vile and callous way? How could the unthinkable have happened this way? 

It’s the ordinariness of the situation that makes this particularly tragic, the fact that Rhys was on his way home from football training with two friends, still wearing his kit when he was shot. My sons have been to football training  this week too, just like thousands of others around the country who are passionate about the game. They walked home too, and arrived safely, thankfully.

Merseyside’s chief constable,  Bernard Hogan Howe, today said the murder of Rhys Jones was the most shocking  crime he had witnessed in his 20 year police career.

Two males aged 14 and 18 have been arrested on suspicion of Rhys’ murder in Croxteth, Liverpool.

Regardless of the ethics about bringing a child into an overpopulated world when you cannot remember how many you already have, I would like to congratulate an Indian man who has become the world’s oldest dad at 90 - and wants more babies!

Nanu Ram Jogi, a farmer in the Indian state of Rajasthan, estimates that his latest daughter Girija Rajkumari is his 21st child. He has had four wives and boasts that women love him:

“I want to have more children. I can survive another few decades and want to have children till I am 100. Then maybe it will be time to stop.”

His secret is not Viagra, but eating meat he hunts from nearby forests.

“Lots of food is my secret to staying healthy. I will survive another few decades to take care of these kids!”

And talk about keeping it in the family. Girija’s mum is fourth wife, Saburi, who he married in 1997 when he was 80. Saburi, who is 50, has given him seven children, and was previously married to his eldest son, Shiv Lal, who died ten years ago.

I’m sure Girija will benefit greatly from her siblings and extended family, and I guess most pensionable men will envy her father’s sexual stamina. If he is still hunting at 90, he is obviously very fit and active and providing food for his family.

But he still has a record to beat as the world’s oldest known father was an Australian called Les Colley, who was 92 when his ninth child was born. He died in 1998, just before his 100th birthday.

Well guys, how would you feel about being a father at 90, or 80, 70 or even 60?

David Cameron has made an embarrassing error by wrongly claiming that maternity services at King’s Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital were under threat in his latest high profile announcement of NHS reforms. The fault was blamed on a typing error, according to this report in the Eastern Daily Press.

A Conservative spokesman claimed that the King’s Lynn hospital had been wrongly included in the latest list of 29 hospitals as having an accident and emergency or maternity services under threat because of a “typo in a grid”. I would feel furious if I was in David Cameron’s shoes.

Only last week, Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb was forced to apologise  after admitting his report as health spokesman incorrectly labelled kitchen hygiene standards at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital as among the worst six in the country.

The public needs to feel confident about the accuracy of information being presented by political leaders highlighting their campaigns, this kind of sloppy presentation can only backfire against the party and create the wrong kind of headlines. As a result, the front page splash in today’s EDP states: “Tory Leader in NHS Gaffe” - the whole story is about this error, rather than the wider message.

I certainly would have liked to have seen someone from Conservative Central Office apologise too, because it is local Tory MP Henry Bellingham who is left to pick up the pieces. He says he was not consulted, and neither was the hospital concerned where bosses now have to reassure patients - surely these were both obvious sources for checking the accuracy of any threat of closure.

Let’s hope some important lessons have been learnt from these two examples about the importance of checking and double checking facts with the best sources, though I do sympathise with researchers who are under pressure to present their data quickly.

Update: Could someone please tell the BBC that King’s Lynn is in East Anglia and not the north-west.

And  Newsnight tonight will be highlighting claims from other hospitals which have also denied their services are under threat. If true, it is a nightmare scenario:

Politicians love to do battle over the NHS so is David Cameron right about hospital closures or is he wrong? Are a whole load about to close or not? The Conservatives have their list of the 29 at risk and David Cameron has been touring the country to offer them support. BUT today a member of his shadow team apologised to his local hospital saying that it was wrong that it was on the list. Since then many Trusts and hospitals on the list have also denied they are under threat. The truth? We’ll be trying to find out and testing both Labour and the Conservatives’ claims.

Suffolk Lib Dem peer Lord Andrew Philips made a citizen’s arrest on a boy believed to be 10-years-old yesterday for allegedly throwing his bike to the ground.

While I’m also fed up up with the lack of respect and yobbish anti social behaviour of some young people (a minority of our population because we have so many we should be proud of too), I do think Lord Philips went over the top here, particularly bearing in mind his background.

According to a report in today’s East Anglian Daily Times, Lord Philips asked a group of young lads to stop riding bikes on a narrow stretch of path on Market Hill in Sudbury, famed for being the birthplace of our great artist Thomas Gainsborough.

The boys’ response was lippy, resorting to foul language, and then one of the boys threw Lord Philips’ bike to the ground. So the peer grabbed the boy by the scruff of the neck, who protested his innocence, while his friends told Lord Philips to “get off”. But he asked a passer-by to call the police, and an officer arrived within minutes.

What makes this particularly interesting is that Lord Philips has a legal background as a solicitor, so knows only too well how to apply the law. He has been on BBC Radio 2’s Jimmy Young Show as their “legal eagle. And in 1997 he was awarded the OBE for establishing the Citizenship Foundation, of which he is president, and for his work with young people and the law. So one assumes he is used to communicating with young people, and in challenging situations.

The Citizenship Foundation aims to empower individuals and young people to engage in the wider community through education about the law, democracy and society, focusing particularly on developing young people’s citizenship skills, knowledge and understanding. In fact, the foundation was recently awarded 100,000 Euros for its work to ‘anchor civic engagement within the educational experience’. I wonder why Lord Philips doesn’t try and engage these young lads with the ethos of citizenship, let them learn and benefit from his experience with the foundation’s support?

This is how Lord Philips recounted the experience:

“I first saw the youngsters biking along the narrow path from the Borehamgate Precinct and told them that they couldn’t ride there as it could be dangerous for young mums with prams.

“They swore at me but it was nothing more than small change from some silly boys. But when I saw them then throw my bike on the floor, I thought ‘I’m not having that’.

“This not just a problem in Sudbury, this is a problem everywhere although our town does have its fair and share of this type of behaviour and it is unacceptable. These boys were not wicked, they just need to realise there are rules you have to stick by.

“This was certainly not brave, it was just a small gesture towards a community standing up for itself and knowing you can’t leave it to the police.

“This kind of behaviour is something I feel very strongly about - you can’t just pass on by and hope things will get better. I think this highlights the absence of beat officers which is unhelpful to put it mildly.

What do you think about this? I would personally like to see special neighbourhood courts set up to deal with anti-social behaviour in local communities. Have you ever made a citizen’s arrest? I wonder whether Lord Philips simply got out of bed the wrong way yesterday.